watched 1984 stephen king film adaption of - firestarter starring a young drew barrymore (9 years old at the time) and the great george c. scott,martin sheen as well as the likes of david keith,art cartney,louise fletcher (nurse ratched from cuckoo's nest) and the pretty heather locklear of t.j. hooker fame!

not sure how this compares to the book but i've always had a bit of a soft spot for this one even though it's never been regarded as one of the better stephen king adaptions.

great performances all round especially from drew barrymore,i thought she was excellent here as the young firestarter of the title charlie mcgee,keith david is his usual reliable self and george c. scott and martin sheen come across as being pretty despicable as the main villains of the piece.

the big pyrothenic display of the final 15 - 20 minutes still packs quite a punch even today,i read a reviewer saying that he thought this could do with a remake and that things would look a lot more convincing with the use of modern cgi effects - err no!

love the tangerine dream score as well which certainly adds to the overall atmosphere and for some strange reason i thought it was filmed somewhere like - virginia or one of those states but i was a little bit off the mark as it was actually shot in - north carolina which looks a rather nice part of the u.s with some beautiful looking lakes and scenery.

watched this on blu ray and despite some pretty mixed reviews concerning the picture quality i thought that overall it looked pretty decent and it completely blew away my old dvd copy.

posted 28. September 201509:52
The final scene is the best 80s superhero stuff i´ve seen with Superman II: The Richard Donner cut.Tangerine Dream score gives the film a magical feel and i also like the locations. Even though it´s not pure horror, firestarter is perfect 31 days of Halloween material.
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Watched the really fun 1986 horror - April fool's day starring Deborah foreman,Clayton rohner,griffin O'Neal and is directed by Fred Walton of when a stranger calls fame!

I've always really enjoyed this one myself though I do think the viewers enjoyment depends a lot on whether there willing to go along with what is in all truth a pretty daft twist ending.

Set at a remote island mansion this has got quite a cool and creepy vibe to it and though it certainly lacks in the gore department I'd say it more than makes up for it with some good laughs and suspense!

Watched Dark Age (1987) the other day.Not a lost classic but entertaining nature strikes back/ozploitation film this one.Starring John Jarratt, a seasoned veteran who´s maybe best known now from the Wolf Creek films, pretty Nikki Coghill (Playing Beatie Bow) as his love interest,Max Phipps (Toadie from Mad Max 2) as the ultimate SOB (love it when he shouts to Jarratts character "crock lover" ) and David Gulpilil (Crocodile Dundee) as one of Jarratt´s aboriginal friends.

posted 31. January 201611:29
witchboard is great j2me,the sequel though I feel is not quite as good is still pretty good fun if you've never seen it,plus its got the hot Ami dolenz starring in it!
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I watched the 1989 horror - phantom of the opera starring the great Robert Englund and the beautiful and very talented 80s scream queen Jill schoelen, it's a really fun and gory take on the phantom story which has the look of a very high budget production - the sets,costumes & gore effects all look terrific here and for what i'd imagine was in all truth probably put together on a fairly moderate budget (I can't find the budget costs listed anywhere) i do think that overall they done a pretty amazing job!

Along with the excellent Robert Englund and Jill schoelen you also have the great Bill nighy (love actually) and the late Stephanie Lawrence who gives a good performance here as the evil songstress La carlotta in what was to be her very last feature before she passed away in 2000 aged 50 from alcoholic liver poisoning.

The movie only took a measly 4 million at the box office and I can actually remember some of the negative press it received upon its release but it's one that I've always really dug and I do tend to revisit every couple of years or so!

Overall a great looking horror with a top cast that doesn't quite get the credit it deserves! 8/10.

One last thing here is that this has always been released in an edited r rated version making cuts to some of the more gruesome deaths scenes,even the latest blu ray edition from scream factory is the same cut r rated version - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098090/alternateversions?ref_=tttrv_ql_5 - it would be cool if someone was to one day release this in a fully unedited form!
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Watched the 1983 horror - The Alchemist the other day, it's a cheesy but fairly enjoyable early Charles Band horror with Robert Ginty (The Exterminator) as a man (Aaron McCallum) living out in the wilderness for many years having been cursed by a warlock (DelGatto) into having him having to hunt for his food like an animal.

On screen effects courtesy of the Commodore 64.

Pretty slow going at first but never boring and with a strong Richard Band music score I've always fairly enjoyed this one and it has that same cool vibe as many of Band's other early 80s productions,you know the creepy settings, wacky creature's (in this case 3 funny looking demons),etc.etc plus some on screen effects that look like there courtesy of an old Commodore 64 you know the score but it's all fun and show's a lot more imagination than a lot of today's modern horror!

My old UK vhs copy from the long defunct Video form.

Also stars Lucinda Dooling (Lovely But Deadly) who passed away last year aged 61 she's pretty decent here as Lenora Sinclair a young woman who is strangely drawn to the cursed Aaron McCallum as played by Robert Ginty,talking of the late great Rob Ginty even though he plays one of the main character's here and is given top billing he sort of drifts in and out of the movie as the film Progress's and i would say probably actually has a lot less screen time than either Dooling or her Co star John Sanderford (Leprechaun),saying that when he is on screen he's his usual cool reliable self!

The evil warlock DelGatto.

Despite all the negative reviews this one has picked up over the years I must say I actually do quite enjoy it and I'm surprised no one has yet to release it to the digital format (DVD/blu),it needs it as my vhs has certainly seen better days and was a bit of a challenge to get through (picture kept going,constant tracking lines,etc.)

So overall it's a fun early 80s horror with a cool creepy atmosphere and a awesome Richard Band music score,plus you've got the forever great Rob Ginty and also the lovely Lucinda Dooling up on screen!

posted 18. March 201612:54
The Beast Within is a mixed bag for me. It does have some style and atmosphere, but it's pretty slow going for most of the way. Then you get the big transformation scene which is a showstopper. Literally. Everything and everyone else just stops doing anything while we watch the well-done-for-its-day transformation of boy into giant cicada--or whatever. And then the movie winds up in routine, but okay, fashion. I remember thinking when I first saw it, "Wow. This really is the definition of a 'money shot.' The whole movie just comes to a screeching halt while we see a long scene with the f/x make-up that the producers spent their money on." It's an overall silly, perhaps stupid, film, worth a look, but that's about it.

posted 21. March 201610:10
Another one i watched was this entertaining horror film from Kevin S. Tenney called Witchtrap (1989).

"Parapsychologists try to make an inn haunted by an evil witch's ghost safe for guests." (IMDb)

I´ve seen the first two Witchboard films and Night of the Demons earlier from Tenney so i knew that he has some skill.I liked the fact that while this is a very low budget film the dialogue between the characters makes sense.In this movie world anyway. The characters also behave surprisingly rationally which, like you all know, isn´t always the case.The movie reminds me of Prince of Darkness and early 80s gem The Evil. Not nearly as good as those but overall solid feature again from Mr. Tenney.

"A reverend, Will Smythe, and his followers are chased out of town after Smythe is accused of adultery and polygamy. Joined by a rugged woodsman, Marion Dalton, who wants his cheating wife, the group ventures into a valley, where dwells an ancient evil spirit. As members of the group start to disappear, the witch-bred, insane Leah must discover how to thwart the spirit." (IMDb)

It was hard to follow the story at times and the editing can be pretty wild but overall you can´t help but enjoy the ride.Brad Fiedel composed the score and while this is not among his best works, this man is one of the most reliable composers in the business.This film sure is something different and even the witch is very well done. Give it a try if you can find it!